Teeter-totter merry-go-round



Oct. 11, 1955 Filed Jan. 15, 1953 S. A. PANSKE TEETER-TOTTER MERRY-GO-ROUND V my D N "V; k $4 a: Q N S 2 Sheets-$heet l Sylvester A. Panske INVENTOR.

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y) w rl Ammg/s Oct. 11, 1955 s. A. PANSKE 2,720,395

TEETER-TOTTER MERRYGOROUND Filed Jan. 15, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sylvester A. Pans/re JNVENTOR.

BY WW 5m United States Patent TEETER-TOTTER MERRY-GO-ROUND Sylvester A. Panske, Neenah, Wis.

Application January 15, 1953, Serial No. 333,535

1 Claim. (Cl. 272-30) This invention relates to an amusement device, and more particularly to a rotary adjustable teeter-totter.

The primary object of this invention resides in the construction of a rotary adjustable teeter-totter or seesaw which is extremely light in weight and which includes an arrangement of parts providing great strength while requiring a minimum amount of parts and employing a tubular frame construction, thus saving a great expenditure of time, effort and materials in the manufacture of such apparatus.

A further object of this invention resides in the simple means used for adjusting the relative lever arms of the teeter-totter in order to compensate for the differences in weight of the children or other persons using the teetertotter.

Another feature of the invention resides in the adjustability as to height that the teeter-totter is mounted above the base thereof.

The construction of this invention features the use of a pair of tubular frame members which together with a substantially W-shaped handle member which provides a cantilever support for the frame members, allows the teeter-totter to support a considerable and unexpected amount of weight while requiring only a minimum amount of material to be used.

Still further objects of this invention reside in the provision of a teeter-totter that is strong, durable, simple in construction and manufacture, highly attractive in appearance, capable of keeping children amused for long periods of time, and which is relatively inexpensive to produce.

These, together with the various ancillary objects of the invention which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by this teeter-totter, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by way of example only, where- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the teeter-totter comprising the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of this rotary and adjustable seesaw;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the teeter-totter, showing in detail the means used to protect the feet of children using the device;

Figure 4 is a sectional detail view as taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 2, and showing the construction of the means for adjusting the teeter-totter so as to compensate for the varying weights of the children using the device;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the manner in which the weight adjustability members are secured to the framework of the invention; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the shaft and transverse member used for providing a rotary and adjustable mounting for the frame of the teeter-totter.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, reference numeral 10 2,720,395 Patented Oct. 11, 1955 "ice generally designates a base which may be readily made triangular in shape, but may be made of any suitable configuration to suit the user or manufacturer. Attached to the base 10 is a tubular support 12 carrying bearings 14. A shaft 16 is adapted to be engaged within the tubular support 12 and slidably positioned on the shaft 16 is a sleeve 18 having a collar 20 preferably formed integrally therewith. A plurality of apertures 22 are formed in the shaft 16 for the reception of a pin 24 which extends through the sleeves 18 so as to adjust the sleeve 18 relative to the shaft 16. The collar 20 is adapted to engage the bearings 14 and thus, the position of the sleeve 18 determines the height that the transverse member 26 attached to the shaft 16 will be positioned above the base 10. The transverse member 26 has disks 28 and 30 attached to the ends thereof.

The base 10 is adapted to support a teeter-totter which is formed from a pair of frame members 32 and 34. Adjacent the ends of the frame members 32 and 34, as at 36 and 38, the frame members 32 and 34 are welded to each other. The ends of the frame members 32 and 34 are spaced apart and are interconnected by substantially U-shaped members 40 and 42. As can be readily seen in Figure 2, the ends of the frame members 32 and 34 form a triangular-shaped portion which is adapted to supports seats 44 and 46 which are attached to the frame members 32 and 34 by suitable bolt fasteners 48. A substantially W-shaped handle member 50 is welded to the portions 36 and 38 where the frame members 32 and 34 are attached to each other. At the apex 52 of the handle member 50 there are provided cross-braces 54 and 56 which extend angularly downward from the apex 52 and are welded at their other ends to the frame members 32 and 34. Thus, the handle member 50 provides a cantilever support for the frame members 32 and. 34, thus substantially increasing the rigidity and strength. of the teetertotter. The legs 58 and 60 of the handle member 50 terminate in cross-bars 62 and 64 which form hand grip portions for the children or other occupants of the seats 44 and 46.

Secured to the frame members 32 and 34, as by weld ing, is a base plate 66 which is offset from the center of the frame members 32 and 34. Welded to the base plate 66 are corrugated plates 68 and 70 which corrugated plates are provided with substantially inverted V-shaped portions adapted to receive the transverse: member 26. Depending from the ends of the corrugated plates 68 and 70 are substantially U-shaped retaining members 72 and 74 which are adapted to prevent accidental displacement of the frame assembly from the base 10. The U-shaped retaining members prevent such accidental displacement of the frame assembly from the base 10 because the retaining members 72 and 74 are secured to the ends of the corrugated plates 68 and 70 which terminate in downwardly directed corrugations. These downwardly directed corrugations will by cam-like action urge the cross member 26 back between adjacent corrugations of said corrugated plates 68 and 70.

The operation of the invention simply involves positioning the teeter-totter with the corrugated plates 68 and' 70 positioned on the cross-member 26 between the disks 28 and 30 in a manner calculated to compensate for the weight differences of the children using the amusement device. The height that the frame members 32 and 34 are supported off the ground may readily be determined by adjustment of the sleeve 18. The frame structure of this invention therefore achieves extraordinary strength while being light in weight and easily assembled.

Since from the foregoing, the construction and advantages of this teeter-totter merry-go-round are readily apparent, further description is believed to be unnecessary.

However, since numerous modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not intended to limit the invention to the precise embodiment shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be readily resorted to which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A rotatable adjustable teeter-totter comprising a frame including a pair of longitudinal frame members, said frame members being secured to each other adjacent the ends thereof and diverging from each other towards the centers of said frame members, a substantially W-shaped handle member secured to said frame members adjacent the ends thereof, a triangularshaped brace supporting the center of said W-shaped handle member and being terminally secured to the centers of said frame members, a base plate secured to and extending between said frame members, said base plate being longitudinally offset from the centers of said frame members, a pair of spaced parallel corrugated plates attached to said base plate, a transverse member engaging said corrugated plates and extending therebetween, disks on the ends of said transverse member, a rotating shaft secured to said transverse member, a base, said rotating shaft being journaled in said base, said corrugated plates being offset from the centers of said frame members, the ends of said frame members diverging, and substantially U-shaped support members terminally attached to said ends of said frame members, each of said corrugated plates terminating at each end thereof in a downwardly directed corrugation, and substantially U-shaped retaining members terminally attached to said ends of said corrugated plates, said disks being positioned outwardly of said retaining members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,260,832 Terry Mar. 26, 1918 1,420,308 Dougherty June 20, 1922 1,898,466 Pierson Feb. 21, 1933 1,904,687 Jacob Apr. 18, 1933 2,431,138 Ressinger Nov. 18, 1947 2,433,735 Buczkowski Dec. 30, 1947 2,488,889 Allie Nov. 22, 1949 2,533,005 Franz Dec. 5, 1950 

